Trump warns: Warner Bros. acquisition may be "suspected of monopoly"

US President Trump expressed clear antitrust concerns over Netflix's plan to acquire Warner Bros., noting that the high market share of the merged entity could pose regulatory obstacles. This indicates that the $72 billion deal is facing severe scrutiny from the top decision-making level, with a significant increase in regulatory uncertainty.

Trump responded to questions about the deal when he arrived at the Kennedy Center for an event on Sunday. He said that although "this has to go through a process and we'll see what happens through that process", he emphasized that Netflix itself already holds a huge market share. "When they own Warner Bros., you know, this share will rise a lot." Trump said straightforwardly, "This might be a problem."

While confirming that he had recently met with Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, and expressed appreciation for the company, Trump explicitly declared that he would personally participate in the decision-making process of the deal. This statement implies that despite the active lobbying by top corporate executives, the White House remains highly vigilant about the issue of market concentration brought about by the consolidation of media industry giants.

The deal aims to integrate the world's number one streaming platform with HBO Max, the fourth-ranked service provider, whose potential market concentration has triggered a red flag warning from regulators. Trump's latest remarks suggest that antitrust review will be the core obstacle to whether the deal can pass, and investors need to be vigilant about the direct impact of regulatory intervention on the transaction process.

Cross the regulatory red line

The proposed deal, valued at up to $72 billion, would merge Netflix, the leader in the streaming industry, with Warner Bros., which owns HBO Max. This scale of strong alliance has drawn close attention from anti-monopoly regulatory authorities.

The antitrust division of the US Department of Justice will be responsible for reviewing this transaction. The core argument that the regulatory authorities may put forward is that the transaction is suspected of being illegal because the combined entity's share in the streaming media market will far exceed the 30% warning line. Trump's statement that he would "personally participate in the decision-making" further intensified market expectations that the deal would face strict scrutiny.

Redefine market boundaries

Facing potential regulatory resistance, Netflix is expected to defend itself by expanding the definition of "relevant markets".

According to analysis, the company may advocate including video service platforms such as YouTube, owned by Google, and TikTok, owned by ByteDance, in the scope of market analysis. If this logic is adopted, it will significantly dilute Netflix's market dominance in the regulatory context.

To facilitate the approval of the transaction, the top management of the enterprise has launched active government public relations. According to a previous report by Bloomberg, Ted Sarandos, the co-CEO of Netflix, recently lobbied at the White House, arguing that Netflix is not an all-powerful monopolist. He also cited the user loss the company experienced a few years ago as evidence, attempting to ease the government's concerns about its market monopoly position.

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